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A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of damaging property.

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council said that surveillance video showed a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused did not enter a plea and informed the court she was ill, according to media sources, with the judge recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

The following day the reported event, the city leader stated that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be detached without harming the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

She said the local government would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.

When the artwork was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and design.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.